View full sizeThis was the scene Tuesday morning on the top of the parking garage at Northeast Seventh Avenue and Lloyd Boulevard where police shot and killed Army veteran Santiago Cisneros III the night before. Cisneros fired first at officers with a shotgun, police said.Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian

A U.S. Army veteran who struggled with post-traumatic stress and depression after serving in Iraq died Monday night after a shootout with two police officers atop a Northeast Portland parking garage.

Santiago Cisneros III, 32, had called his mother shortly before and told her something to the effect of "I've got to go to a better place," a family friend said.

With Cisneros' cell phone still connected, his mother heard the rapid gunfire that followed.

Portland detectives Tuesday continued to collect evidence in the second officer-involved fatal shooting of the year. A Multnomah County grand jury convened this week to review last month's police shooting.

About 10:45 p.m. Monday, two North Precinct officers drove to meet up on the top of the parking garage at Northeast Seventh Avenue and Lloyd Boulevard.

Cisneros, armed with a shotgun, confronted them and fired on them seconds later, said bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

The two officers returned fire, killing Cisneros, police said. The officers weren't hurt. Cisneros collapsed beside his shotgun, but was still moving, police said.

Other officers who responded approached the wounded Cisneros carrying ballistic shields. Cisneros was taken by ambulance to a city hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Simpson said the officers weren't dispatched to the garage, but he declined to say why they went there. Other officers said that's a popular spot for police to go "car-to-car," when two patrol officers park their cars side-by-side to chat and monitor the streets between calls.

Cisneros' dark-colored car remained on the top level of the garage, facing west, on the morning after the shooting, with two marked patrol cars beside it. More than a dozen yellow evidence markers dotted the ground around the cars.

Cisneros, who grew up in Idaho, had attended community colleges in Portland and Seattle, and most recently worked as a legal intern at the Seattle law firm Chung, Malhas, Mantel & Robinson, where his cousin also worked.

Friends from Idaho said Cisneros served in the U.S. Army from May 2002 through May 2005 as a vehicle mechanic. Cisneros never was the same when he returned from Iraq, they said.

Cisneros joined up after high school graduation despite objections from his parents, said family friend Michael Heiser. Heiser's stepson attended high school with Cisneros in Idaho.

Heiser remembered Cisneros as a caring young man and guitar player who loved music in high school. "We thought the world of him," Heiser said. "He wasn't pushy. He was concerned about other people's feelings."

But Heiser said Cisneros had a difficult time when he returned from overseas.

"I do know coming out of the service really messed him up," Heiser said. "He had a hard time with post-traumatic stress and battled depression. He wasn't the kid that I knew."

"I fought a war over there in Iraq. I didn't know I was going to have to fight the inner war back here against myself," Cisneros said on a video clip. "It took awhile to realize I was dealing with PTSD because I didn't know what post-traumatic stress disorder was."

Cisneros found help through the Veterans Administration and the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Northern California, he said on TV.

On Feb. 2, Cisneros posted a quote on his Facebook page from George Washington regarding the right to bear arms: "A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."

His brother Diego Cisneros said the family is struggling to make sense of the death. "We're just trying to find out what happened," he said.

"Santiago A. Cisneros III is an American War Hero and Veteran who served his country with pride," the family said in a statement. "He is a beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend. He is loved by many and he loved many."

Police haven't said how many shots Cisneros and the officers fired. Both officers involved are on paid administrative leave, a routine step taken after a shooting. Officer Bradley J. Kula, 38, has been with the bureau for 10 years and Officer Michele Boer, 27, for four years.

The two officers won't be interviewed until Thursday morning, more than 48 hours after the confrontation.